1 Introduction to Oracle Business Process Composer

This chapter provides an overview of Oracle Business Process Composer. It describes the most common scenarios for using Oracle Business Process Composer to design, implement, and deploy Oracle Business Process Management (Oracle BPM) projects to create process-based business applications. It also provides a general overview of the application user interface.

1.1 Signing On to Oracle Business Process Composer

Before signing on to Oracle Business Process Composer your business administrator must provide the URL and your username and password.

URL: The location of your Oracle Business Process Composer installation.

Username: The username you use to access Oracle Business Process Composer.

Password: The security credential you use to access Oracle Business Process Composer.

Note:

Oracle Application Server Single Sign-On is enabled by default in Oracle BPM Suite. OracleAS Single Sign-On allows you to use one sign-on session to access multiple web-based applications. If OracleAS Single Sign-On is enabled and you have previously signed on to another application, the Oracle Business Process Composer sign on screen may not appear.

The Oracle Business Process Composer application is designed to allow you to easily create, edit, and manage BPM projects. A BPM project is the core component of an Oracle BPM application, which contains all the required resources of the application, including business processes.

Use the Oracle Business Process Composer Application Welcome page to perform the following types of tasks:

Create and view Oracle Business Process Composer spaces

Create and manage Business Architecture (BA) projects

Create and manage BPM projects

The Oracle Business Process Composer Application Welcome page is divided into the following sections:

Oracle Business Process Composer toolbar

Spaces browser

Project list

BA Project panel

BPM project panel

Recent projects panel

1.2.1 Introduction to the Oracle Business Process Composer Toolbar

The Oracle Business Process Composer toolbar is located across the top of page and provides access to the Oracle Business Process Composer main menu as well as allowing you to configure how BPM and BA projects are displayed in the Project List.

The toolbar provides access to the following:

Table 1-1 The Oracle Business Process Composer Application Toolbar

Toolbar element

Description

Main Menu

Click to access the Oracle Business Process Composer's main menu. From here you can use the Main Menu to:

Import a BPM project

Publish report data for a BA project

Generate reports for a BA project

Click to choose how projects are displayed in the project browser. Choose either List, Grid, or Table.

Search

Use to search for a project by name. Enter the name of the project, then click the Search button. You can only search for projects that you have access to view or edit.

Click to display BA projects in the project list.

Click to display BPM projects in the project list.

Click to display projects owned by the current user.

Click to display projects shared by the current user.

1.2.1.1 Introduction to the Oracle Business Process Composer Main Menu

The application main menu provides access to frequently used commands and functionality. This menu is accessible from the Application Welcome page as shown in Figure 1-2.

The main menu provides access to the menu items described in Table 1-2.

Table 1-2 Main Menu Items

Menu item

Description

Open

Allows you to open a project stored in the Oracle BPM repository.

Import

Provides functionality for importing projects and process models into Oracle Business Process Composer. Imported projects are stored in the Oracle BPM repository. See Working with Project Snapshots for more information.

1.2.2 Introduction to the Spaces Browser

Oracle Business Process Composer spaces group related BA and BPM projects together. An Oracle Business Process Composer space contains all of the project and resources for your organization, from high-level value chain models down to the lower level technical details required by your process-based application. Oracle Business Process Composer spaces are also used to control permissions on the projects they contain. You can specify which users or groups have permission to view or edit BA or BPM projects stored in that space.

The spaces browser is located on the left-hand side of the Application Welcome page and can be used to create, view, and edit Oracle Business Process Composer spaces, as shown in Figure 1-3. You can only view or edit the Oracle Business Process Composer spaces you created or have permission to view.

1.2.2.2 How to Share a Space with Other Users or Groups

After creating an Oracle Business Process Composer space, you share the space with other users or groups. Sharing an Oracle Business Process Composer space also shares all of the Business Architecture and BPM projects within the space.

To share an Oracle Business Process Composer space:

Access the Application Welcome page.

Move the mouse over the space you want to share, then click the Edit Space button.

Click Participants.

Click Choose.

In the drop down list, select whether you want to search in users, groups, or both.

Enter the name of the user or group in the text field, then click Search.

Click Search without entering a name in the text field to return a list of all users or groups.

Click the check box next to the name of the users or groups you want to add. You can click Select All to select all the users in the search results.

Click OK.

Select a role from the drop down list. This role determines the changes a user or group can make to a product.

Click Share.

The user or group appears in the table along with the role assigned to them.

Click Close.

1.2.2.3 How to Delete an Oracle Business Process Composer Space

Administrators or users who are assigned the owner role can delete a space. Deleting a space removes it from the Oracle BPM repository and also removes all of the projects it contains.

To delete an Oracle Business Process Composer space:

Access the Application Welcome page.

Move the mouse over the space you want to delete, then click the Delete button.

1.2.3 Introduction to the Project List

Use the project list to view and work with projects contained in all spaces you have permission to view or edt, privately owned spaces, shared spaces owned by you, or shared spaces owned by others. The projects displayed in the project list are based on the option you choose in the spaces browser. By default, projects contained in all spaces you have permission to view or edit are displayed, as shown in Figure 1-1.

You can change how Oracle Business Process Composer displays the projects (List, Grid, or Table) by clicking the Views icon located on the Application Welcome page toolbar. Table 1-4 describes the elements displayed in the default List view, as shown in Figure 1-5.